Leaving in 20 Days, Still No Word From Villa Owner!

[sweetpeakaris]

Nope, She gave no reason for not contacting me sooner for the balance. I think she is unorganized and busy. Now, I just hope she sends me the door code in time, she stated she'll email it 2 days before arrival but I'm gonna request it now. Not gonna wait on her emails again, she responds way too slow.

Thanks for all the well wishes!

 

[tbrenk]

Nope, She gave no reason for not contacting me sooner for the balance. I think she is unorganized and busy. Now, I just hope she sends me the door code in time, she stated she'll email it 2 days before arrival but I'm gonna request it now. Not gonna wait on her emails again, she responds way too slow.

Thanks for all the well wishes!

We are going Easter Week as well and staying in EI. The villa owners I am dealing with tend to be a bit unorganized. A few times, it took over a week to hear back from them. If I were an owner, I would be more on top of things.

 

[5mins2disney]

Geesh..sorry to hear that guys. This is the hard thing to try and explain to people on the DIS here about renting this kind of home from someone. How to explain to someone to "quantify" how good their owner is at things like communication, organization, etc.

By the way...I don't understand why she would wait until 2 days prior to arrival to give you a key code, we give ours to our guests when they have paid in full.

Do you have directions to Windsor Hills and to/from the parks yet either? If you want them, I have a shortcut thread posted here, and if you PM me your "real" email address I'd be happy to send you the MS-Word file I email our guests with the directions and shortcut routes in it so you can print it out and take it along with you in advance (I'm just guessing she hasn't done a good job of this either!).

Have a great trip, I'm sure you will love the resort and the home even though the process so far has been a little stressful!

- George

 

[isla bonita]

Shame on them.

I am so not perfect but to blow some one off at any time is inexcusable. Not very good for future use.

I do think that is very unusual.

George Villa-Direct is a poor excuse for a man/co. The home next to ours in EI use them and I try to be as neutral as I can but those people are the pits.

 

[5mins2disney]

Shame on them.

I am so not perfect but to blow some one off at any time is inexcusable. Not very good for future use.

I do think that is very unusual.

George Villa-Direct is a poor excuse for a man/co. The home next to ours in EI use them and I try to be as neutral as I can but those people are the pits.

Hey, none of us are perfect, and the reality is, everyone is going to make mistakes at some point, right? We're all human after all, and problems do come up... but..the important thing...and this is the part that sets the good owners and good MCs apart...is that it's what you do about the problems when they come up that counts!

I am normally VERY neutral about other homeowners, MCs, and most everyone, even if I know they just suck, but I had to bail out another guest (she was from the DIS actually) last month due to this situation, and it made me really upset that they would do this to someone! (OK more like really hopping mad on her behalf!) I can't believe they would just call a guest and dump her like this, pretty piss poor if you ask me! I've heard horror stories from other guests and other owners as well...beware!!

I'm probably going to get myself in trouble for saying something like this on a public forum too...but they deserve it for doing this to someone! The townhome we acquired in Jan was previously managed by them, and we of course fired them instantly. Their response was to instantly pull all of "their" guest reservations out of our home... (fine by us...they were dumping $50/night tour bookings on the prior owners anyhow!), but the part that upsets me, is did they go back to the original guests and cancel on them if they didn't have another place to put them in? Why not just let the "new" owners get the reservation then so you don't ruin someone's Disney vacation!?

Grrr... Well it all ended well at least, I found this nice woman a gorgeous poolside condo to stay in for Easter week, so she was pretty happy at least! I had to make about 10 phone calls and send out tons of emails and call in every contact I could to find a place, but got it done.

- George

 

[Mainebound]

By the way...I don't understand why she would wait until 2 days prior to arrival to give you a key code, we give ours to our guests when they have paid in full.

- George

I just got mine today for our rental beginning in 3 days. Two years ago, we got it about 14 days out. I have been told it is for security purposes, but three days out made me very nervous.

I'm really glad we have such wonderful owners posting here on the DIS. While I am glad Sweetpeakaris came to the board for advice and support (and SUPER glad it worked out!) I always worry that these "bad owner" threads will leave a skewed impression that the GOOD owners are harder to find than the bad ones. All of the owners I have dealt with, not just rented from but made inquiries of, have been great. Same is true of the MCs.

Gotta go make sure my owner is not using that awful MC!!!

 

[A&CsMom]

I have to say the owner we dealt with last year and again this year has been great - she always answers within hours, if not minutes. She will give us the code 30 days out. I guess our great experience last time is why we are dealing with her again! Obviously dependability is very important when you are renting from an owner, and the owner Sweetpeakaris is dealing with is doing herself no favours and it will cost her repeat visitors as well as referrals.

People should know that most owners are not like this -- unfortunately, its only the "bad" ones we usually hear about.

That being said, I will post a review of the villa we are staying at next month when we get back.

 

[5mins2disney]

I just got mine today for our rental beginning in 3 days. Two years ago, we got it about 14 days out. I have been told it is for security purposes, but three days out made me very nervous.

I'm really glad we have such wonderful owners posting here on the DIS. While I am glad Sweetpeakaris came to the board for advice and support (and SUPER glad it worked out!) I always worry that these "bad owner" threads will leave a skewed impression that the GOOD owners are harder to find than the bad ones. All of the owners I have dealt with, not just rented from but made inquiries of, have been great. Same is true of the MCs.

Gotta go make sure my owner is not using that awful MC!!!

Thanks for the kind words! I don't get the whole "Security" thing...what...you're going to drive down from Maine and attempt to open up a lockbox with a different keycode than the one they "set" for your visit? LOL

You might show up, find it unlocked, empty of the keys since other guests are there now, and move in with them!? LOL

Pull an "astronaut" and drive 18 hours in diapers!?

There's a lot to be said for making sure your guests are well informed and have the information, we normally provide this information 5-6 weeks out actually, you never know, sometimes people don't get emails, etc. 2-3 days out would make ME nervous that they wouldn't get the email or information!

And you're right about the "bad' posting thread...it makes me very nervous that people will get scared off by this. For the most part, 99% of people who rent homes this way are very very happy...in any business...there's always going to be someone who is occasionally unhappy. It happens, be realistic, it actually happens a lot more often I believe in people who visit hotels. At least here, you're dealing with the owners who care.

 

[Mainebound]

Thanks for the kind words! I don't get the whole "Security" thing...what...you're going to drive down from Maine and attempt to open up a lockbox with a different keycode than the one they "set" for your visit? LOL

You might show up, find it unlocked, empty of the keys since other guests are there now, and move in with them!? LOL

Pull an "astronaut" and drive 18 hours in diapers!?

Thanks a lot! now I have to come up with Plan D!!!!!

 

[5mins2disney]

Thanks a lot! now I have to come up with Plan D!!!!!

Sorry didn't mean to "out" you "Lisa Nowak!" hehe

 

[sweetpeakaris]

Hmmmm, wonder how long it will take her to collect the balance and give the the condo info? Still no word from her yet. I'm glad she got back to me the first time, trying to be patient, just want to finalize everything. I know I put myself in this situation, she was always slow to communicate in the beginning, I should have booked with someone that was returning emails promptly vs who offered the best deal. I've defintely learned a lesson from this mistake.

 

[Mainebound]

Hmmmm, wonder how long it will take her to collect the balance and give the the condo info? Still no word from her yet. I'm glad she got back to me the first time, trying to be patient, just want to finalize everything. I know I put myself in this situation, she was always slow to communicate in the beginning, I should have booked with someone that was returning emails promptly vs who offered the best deal. I've defintely learned a lesson from this mistake.

You know what? You decided to trust her. You gave her the benefit of the doubt and decided to think positive thoughts about her. That's a wonderful character trait, even if occasionally it causes you a bit of anguish!

 

[allysmom1218]

for you and your family and that you have a Wonderful Vacation. I know how you feel. I am renting a villa in June for the first time and I have been so nervous about this. The only thing different from your situation is that the owner that I am dealing with has been Great to deal with. She replies to my email asap (esp. due to the time difference because she lives in England). I just hope that the villa I rented is as Great as the pictures and the information seems to be on VRBO. I would also be EXTREMELY nervous as you are in your situation. I like to be very organized and in control of everything so I really feel for you. Please let us know the outcome of your situation and also let us know how your trip went when you return. I'm sending you a BIG grouphug and Pixie Dust your way to let you know that someone is thinking about ya!!!!